Everything You Need to Know about Deep Cycle Battery
Before we dive into what is a deep cycle battery , it is first important to understand a few battery basics of what a cycle is, what depth of discharge means, and what it really means to deep discharge a battery. One full cycle is considered a full discharge and recharge of a battery. What is meant by a full discharge? Discharge is measured by the capacity removed from the battery – the depth of the discharge (DoD) is used to indicate how much of the battery capacity has been used during a single discharge. A full discharge is 100% DoD. What is a Deep Cycle Battery? This answer may seem obvious, but a deep cycle battery is a battery that has been designed to continuously handle deep discharges of 80-100% DoD. Does this mean high-rate batteries can’t be used for a deep discharge? Yes and no. One or two deep cycles will not hurt the battery (if maximum discharge and charge rates are strictly adhered to), but this is where the design of the battery matters because a high-rate battery wo